Kerala Opens First offshore ‘Infinity Centre’ for Startups in Dubai

The Infinity Centres, set up by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), will also act as launch pads for Kerala-based startups for their international growth plans

The Infinity Centres, set up by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), will also act as launch pads for Kerala-based startups for their international growth plans

Kerala marked the launch of its proposed ‘Infinity Centres’ for mentoring non-resident Indians (NRIs) to turn into startup entrepreneurs, with the opening of the first such centre in Dubai on Sunday.

The Infinity Centres, set up by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), will also act as launch pads for Kerala-based startups for their international growth plans.

Inaugurating the Dubai centre, Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state’s startups are expected to generate 20,000 jobs during the current financial year with the opening of the first-ever Infinity Centre in the Gulf city.

Vijayan said more such centres, conceived as a one-stop destination for facilitating NRIs in their entrepreneurial journeys as also to strengthen the state’s ecosystem for nascent companies, will be set up in the USA, Australia and Europe during the first phase.

Infinity Centres: Dubai partnership to boost Kerala’s startups

The opening of the Dubai centre followed after Startup Middle East was selected as the Infinity Centre’s partner in the UAE.

A pact to this was signed between the Dubai-headquartered platform’s founder Sibi Sudhakaran and KSUM Chief Executive Officer Shri Anoop Ambika.

The Chief Minister said the UAE provides “considerable” support to Kerala’s efforts to link with other economies.

The Infinity Centres will aim to explore foreign markets for the state’s startups and also help NRIs to become entrepreneurs through KSUM, he added.

The Chief Minister said the international laurels Kerala has won in the startup sector can translate into cooperation from NRIs to further strengthen the state’s ecosystem.

“This will enable them to run companies through a plug-and-play collaboration with KSUM’s Infinity Centres. All the same, these launch pads can enable the state’s startups to receive investments from abroad and widen their domain,” Vijayan said.

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.

Source: The Arabian Business